Preventing Smoke Fluid Overflow

[John Carmichael]

Hello All:

 

I am always worried about running out of smoke fluid and burning up the Protosmoke unit, but I'm also worried about filling it too much and having a messy fluid overflow inside the engine.

 

So I have couple of questions...

 

1. Is there any way to measure how much fluid is in the Protosmoke unit?

I was thinking that we might use some sort of "dip stick" to measure the fluid level (a toothpick maybe?).  I have not tried this because I fear inserting a toothpick into the smoke stack might damage the heating coil or wick).  Is this safe?

 

2. What is the fluid volume capacity of the Protosmoke unit in number of drops, milliliters (ml)?

 

3. Do you prefer using the MTH Protosmoke fluid container or some other type of bottle or syringe? 

I've noticed that it is hard to get just drops to come out.  If the bottle is full or if I squeeze it too hard, a stream come out and I loose count of the drops.

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[enginear joe]

1) the wick is in the opening and wraps around the heating elements. So be careful poking around right there. I would use something flexible like a thin zip tie end. Don't poke too hard. On some models the smoke unit isn't seen from above because it's attached to a funnel.

I just add fluid depending on how much the it is used. If I've run it for long periods at high output, I add about ten drops or a short stream, the next time I run.

2) each model has a different reservoir so I wouldn't know how to answer.

3) I use MTH fluid and the stream is just faster way to fill. I don't fill the unit. I just keep it wet. I would rather add every time, then try to keep it full. I believe the wick just needs to be kept wet. I also have other brands of fluid.

If you try and fill the reservoir, the unit won't smoke as well or at all. The elements may be kept cool and not get hot if submerged.

[Rayman4449]

Hi John,

 

If I question fluid levels that much I use a syringe to extract the fluid that is in the smoke unit to see how much is in there.  The syringes I use have 'ml' lines printed on the side.

 

I dont have a figure for the general maximum volume in ml for the MTH One gauge unit I would need to do some testing.  (for others reading this have to remember the MTH one gauge smoke unit is MUCH bigger than all other G scale size units.  All other mfgs use an O Gauge size smoke unit in their engines and O gauge units are relatively tiny in comparison.)

 

I use a pinch dropper or syringe to fill my units.

[Jerry B44]

I use an eyedropper that came with the small bottle from  MEGA STEAM.  I use the coal scent for the steamers and diesel smell for the diesels. Works well.

[John Carmichael]

Thanks Joe, Ray, & Jerry for your comments

 

This is for Ray...

 

With all the repair work you have done Ray, which do you see more of- burnt out smoke generators from lack of fluid, or oily messes inside the engines from smoke oil overflows?

 

As for smoke oil overflows, what sort of engine damage can an oil overflow cause?  I ask this because I remember in one of your postings that you said a dirty optical speed sensor on the flywheel can cause problems.  So I wonder if oil overflows can mess up the flywheel or maybe even damage the Protosound board?

 

thanks!

[Rayman4449]

Interestingly enough I'm not sure I can think of one I've seen that has been burned out from lack of fluid.  Maybe 1 perhaps.  I see a number of units that still look new as I dont think a lot of people use their smoke units.  Those that do, use them heavily.  

 

On the risk of damage from overflow, the only potential problem I can see is fluid getting into the fan motor itself but I haven't seen problems related to this.  The smoke units are located far away from the flywheels and optical readers that they will never be contaminated that way.  If a unit is overfilled they will only have a limited amount of extra fluid before the user figures out what is going on and generally will be careful on the next time around.  On the electronic boards themselves they are always mounted in such a way that overflow fluid would pour down away from the boards.  Steam boards are mounted up under the top of the boiler.  With diesels they are mounted to the side of the board and again wont reach the board.  I have seen one GS4 that was 100% saturated with live steam oil in every location inside and out as the engine was run on a live steam layout. Every component in the engine was coated with live steam oil and it still functioned normally so the electronics, optical reader and flywheel were fine.

 

I may have made a mention on cleaning the optical sensor to help troubleshoot an existing problem just to make sure but I have never seen a situation where dust or dirt was able to cause problems over time.  In theory you might think this could be a potential issue but in practice it's not a problem.  

[John Carmichael]

That's a relief to know that smoke fluid overflow does not cause any serious problems other than internal cosmetic ones.  But I was surprised to hear that so many MTH owners don't use their protosmoke units since their engines have just about the best smoke units in the industry.  Almost nobody but me in our local club uses smoke either, which is understandable since none of them own MTH engines. 

 

Thanks guys for your comments.

 

John C.

[Jerry B44]

I use my smoke units all the time, unless it's too windy.

[benshell]

Interestingly enough I'm not sure I can think of one I've seen that has been burned out from lack of fluid.  Maybe 1 perhaps. 

 

I think you're talking about mine. For everyone else, I have an MTH smoke unit I bought off eBay that didn't work very well, but I don't know for sure if I burned it out or it came that way because I didn't open it up before using it. I didn't realize you could open it so easily. But I do know that in the beginning I put in far too little smoke fluid, having been used to other manufacturer's units!